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Renew
Online
You may now renew your annual membership dues online. Annual dues are $45.00.
Denise Adamik is the owner of Maid in America, a residential and commercial cleaning company in Norwich, CT.
By Denise Adamik, Maid in America
Entering a new client’s home for the first time to set up a cleaning
schedule has a lot to do with first impressions on both sides. After
all, you are a complete stranger who sooner or later will know every
inch of their home, and building trust is a very important part of
this job.
That reminds me of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, (not their real names) a
retired couple who called upon Maid in America to clean their house
every other week. According to Mrs. Smith, she had been cleaning her
own house for 40 years and she knew how it should be cleaned and how
long it should take. I told her my price and she said "How much?
That's a lot just to clean for a few hours. My sister has a cleaning
person and she doesn't charge that much!". I told her I couldn't go
any lower- that was my minimum. She had to ask her husband if it was
alright. He said, "Well give her a try and see if you like the
work". As I began the job, I could feel her eyes on me. I am
accustomed to that, and since she was not comfortable with me, I
could understand. Once the job was done, she asked me to come back
again in two weeks. It took about two months, but one day she asked
me if I could help her change the bed sheets because she had a bad
back. She stayed in the bedroom to make sure I did it correctly. I
think she was surprised and certainly happy! Keep in mind that the
two of them are always home when I am there.
About five months later, to my amazement, they both went to the
store after I arrived. At last, the trust was there. It was a signal
that, "we trust you enough to leave you in our house alone". She was
thrilled when I came to clean, and we quickly developed a positive
rapport.
Well you've all heard of Murphy's law. Read on.
On one occasion, I brought along help to lighten the load. We
finished up and went home. On the next visit Mrs. Smith asks, " Are
you alone today, dear?" I replied, "Yes". "That's good," she said.
"Did your little helper vacuum the living room carpet last time?"
Now Mrs. Smith knew this, she was watching because a new person was
in the house. "Well she must have not vacuumed the same way you do
because look at the carpet. It's rippled in a few areas here and
there." I was stunned. Was my helper really the cause of this
destruction? I politely answered," I don't think the way the carpet
was vacuumed had anything to do with it". She thought otherwise. Mr.
Smith who usually remains quiet and composed in the background
actually showed a bit of displeasure. "The carpet is only a year
old. This should have never happened." All those months of building
trust looked like it was going down the tubes. They said they would
call the carpet installer to come and take a look and they would let
me know the outcome. Without admitting guilt, I told them to let me
know and if necessary I would take appropriate action.
Two weeks later, I arrived to clean up ( or be cleaned up) and was
immediately shown the carpet area, which was back to its original
condition. Mrs. Smith was very understanding. She understood what
the installer said: IT WAS NOT MY FAULT! He said that a vacuum could
not have done this, but carpets occasionally buckle after a period
of time and yes, they fixed it free of charge. Needless to say, I
was whistling all the way home. The Smith's were very apologetic,
and I am still cleaning (alone). "Please do not bring anyone else
with you. We prefer only you in our house, you are the only one who
can clean as good as you do." A compliment to be sure.